it started with the president taking responsibility for the security failures. governor romney chimed in looking for answers. watch some of this. >> when it comes to this issue i say we'll find out exactly what happened, everybody will be held accountable and i am ultimately responsible for what is taking place there because these are my folks, and i'm the one who has to greet those coffins when they come home. >> i think the president said correctly the buck does stop at his desk and he takes responsibility for that, for the failure in providing those security resources and those terrible things may well happen from time to time. there were many days that passed before we knew whether this was a spontaneous demonstration or whether it was a terrorist attack. and there was no demonstration involved and it was a terrorist attack and it took a long time for that to be told to the american people. but what i find more troubling than that, on the day following the assassination of a united states ambassador, the first time that has happened since

1979, when, when we have four americans killed there, when apparently we didn't know what happened, that the president, the day after that happened, flies to las vegas for political fund-raiser. then the next day to colorado for another event, another political event. bill: that was now, just the beginning looking back last night. john roberts is stationed now in leesburg, virginia, northern part of the state. john, let's begin our day with you. good morning. >> reporter: bill, that debate last night closest i ever have seen to a political bare knuckle brawl. the two relished the idea of going after each other. what would i think be considered to be the high point of the debate came when governor romney challenged president obama's assertion that he had in fact declared that attack in the benghazi consulate to be an act of terror the day after it happened. >> you said in the rose garden the day after the attack it was an act of terror. it was not a spontaneous

demonstration. is that what you're saying. >> please proceed, governor. >> want to make sure we get that for the record, because it took the president 14 days before he called the attack in benghazi an act of terror. >> get the transcript. >> he did in fact, sir. let me call it an act of terror. >> can you say it louder, candy? >> he did call it an act of terror. >> reporter: what was it the president actually said at the rose garden. no acts of terror, acts of terror will shake the great resolve. that came at end of his remarks it was unclear whether that was a direct reference to the attack at the benghazi consulate. as for candy croley interjecting herself at the debate. a lot of republicans objected. they perceived at taking sides. romney campaign described it odd, later on she more fully explained what she said and what she meant at that time. bill: two other moments. we'll go to the rose garden

transcript with governor george pataki in 35 minutes. it was an interesting moment, president talked about as soon as he found out what was happening in the benghazi consulate he was overrun, i was on the phone with my national security team. we've gone back to the national security team. we believe that was only time and first time he mentioned that. exchanges on libya are what everybody is talking about today, jon. >> reporter: absolutely. the most heated he changes in the entire debate governor romney suggested that the administration may be miss leading the public on what happened. >> the suggestion that anybody in my team, whether secretary of state, our u.n. ambassador, anybody on my team would play politics or mislead when we have lost four of our own, governor, is offensive. that's not what we do. that's not what i do as president. that's not what i do as

commander-in-chief. >> reporter: difficult to know whether or not that was political theater or genuine motion but it was at a point where the president did seem to be very visibly irritated with governor romney. bill: john, thanks for the setup there, john roberts in leesburg, virginia. she has more on the same topic. martha: let's get context exactly what the president said in the rose garden on september 12th the day after the attack in libya. this is exactly what he said. >> no acts of terror will ever shake the resolve of this great nation, alter that character or eclipse the light of the values we stand for. today we mourn for more americans that represent the very best of the united states of america. we will not waiver in our commitment to see that justices done for this terrible act and make no must take, justice will be done. martha: all right. nearly two weeks later at the u.n., the president continued to bring up the anti-islam video that we now

know had nothing to do with the benghazi attack. >> that is what we saw play out in the last two weeks. a crude and disgusting video, sparked outrage throughout the muslim world. now i have made it clear that the united states government had nothing to do with this video and i believe its message must be rejected by all who respect our common humanity. it is an insult not only to muslims, but to america as well. martha: and in that speech on september 25th at the united nations, president obama did not mention terrorism as the likely motive during that speech. he did mention the video at least six times and focused much of his address promoting religious tolerance and free speech. bill: also governor romney, the campaign surrogate for romney, john sununu, not one to mince words. he said plenty last night on the performance of the president. former new hampshire governor telling sean hannity that president obama

was wrong on a number of issues especially when it came to this. >> this president got caught tonight with a bunch of statements that weren't correct. he was wrong on the statement about the permits for oil. he was wrong on the statement about the permits for shale. he was wrong on coal. he was absolutely deliberate in his dishonesty on this issue when he acknowledged it was terrorism. how can you go to the u.n. two weeks later, and still be claiming six times that it's the video and then show up tonight and claim that you said it was an act of terrorism? bill: that was from last night. today john sununu is back. we'll join him next hour live here in "america's newsroom". martha: post-debate, both the candidates and moderator's response to the libya issue sparked a fiery reaction from our panel. watch this. >> when the moderator said -- >> he said check the transcript. >> that kind of pushes, makes it look, well, like

there is a ref and the ref threw the flag. that will help the president. >> but the truth is the opportunity, governor romney had a tremendous opportunity once the president had said that. the answer to that, obvious answer to that, mr. president, if you thought on the monday after this was an act of terror why did your u.n. ambassador go out several days later on five sunday television shows and say that the best information you had it was all reaction to the movie? why did you yourself -- >> why do you go to letterman, the u.n.. >> romney didn't believe that the president had actually said that. so he was trying to use that against him. the smart play would have turn it as he could well have into a point and basic question on it i think is unanswerable question. martha: bring up the issue whether or not the battle over the semantics was the question. whether mitt romney should have gone with the big picture ish sue there in terms of libya. little later this hour we'll

get reaction on all this from former new york governor george pataki. the president and governor romney also traded jabs on issue weighing heavily on voters which is high gas prices. republican challenger says the president's failed energy policy is to blame. >> proof, the proof of whether a strategy is working or not what is the price you're paying at the pump. if you're paying less than you paid a year or two ago, why then the strategy is work. but you're paying more. when the president took office the price of gasoline here in nassau county was about the a buck 86 a gallon. now it is four bucks a gallon. price of electricity is up. >> think about what the governor said. when i took office the price of gasoline was 1.80, 1.86. why is that? because the economy was on the verge of collapse. because we were about to go through the worst recession since the great depression. as a consequence, of some of the same policies that governor romney is now promoting. martha: that was an interesting exchange.

bring in stuart varney, anchor of "varney & company" on the fox business network. what did you make of that, stuart? >> i don't think the president had a strong answer why gas prices had doubled during his tenure from a 1.84, to 3.75 as of today. if you look across the whole spectrum of energy policy the president was on pretty shaky ground in all areas. no pipeline. doubling price of gas. he could not answer forcefully governor romney's charge there is less drilling for oil and gas on federal land and offshore. then yesterday morning, we had the failure of another green energy taxpayer subsidized company, namely a123 systems. so across the spectrum, this was an area, energy policy where governor romney could attack, and where there was not a forceful comeback from the president. martha: it seemed, stuart, when it came to the i they both tried to portray themselves as all of the above energy, in terms of

energy proponents, right? governor romney i thought sort of had a strong moment and went back and said to the audience, does this strike you as a person who will be in favor of coal, nuclear, of all those other alternatives? do you get that impression when the watch the president in action? do you feel he was forceful enough on that or it should have handled differently? >> i think where the real force came in where the president made a mistake, factual mistake. governor romney said, look, how do you account for the drilling on federal land and offshore is way down? the president seemed to contest that but governor romney came back strong and said look, it is down. drilling is down. the facts back up governor romney. we're down by about 40% offshore, onshore drilling on federal land. that is a fact. the president could not really answer that forcefully. in fact he tried to take credit for the extra oil production on private land that we've got now to places like north dakota.

martha: interesting. stuart, thank you so much. we'll see you later. stuart varney, fbn, for a week we said anytime you're in front of voters in a town hall setting you want to be polite and turn people off and don't want to confront the other guy. throw the all out the window. martha: yep. bill: jam-packed show. we're just getting started. we'll play hits and misses from both men last night. what about the questions in that forum last evening? was the moderator favoring one side over the other? we'll debate that fair and balanced through the morning. martha: governor romney said president rage goon faced a severe downturn in the white house and managed to turn things around. we'll talk to the man who managed ronald reagan's landslide 1984 campaign when ed rollins joins us live. >> i know what it makes to. make an economy work that make moms happy too.

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bill: now to the economy. governor romney hitting the

president last night on the number of jobs in america or lack of them. that had been created over the past four years. listen. >> between that period, the end of that recession, equivalent period of time of to day, ronald reagan's recovery created twice as many jobs as this president's recovery. five million jobs doesn't keep up with population growth. the only reason the unemployment rate seems a little lower today because of all the people that dropped out of the workforce. the president has tried but his policies haven't worked. he is great as a speaker and describing his plans and his vision. that is wonderful, except we have a record to look at and that record shows he just hasn't been able to cut the deficit, to put in place reforms for medicare and social security, to preserve them. to get us the rising incomes we need. median incomes down $4300 a family. and 23 million americans out of work. that is what this election is about. it's about who can get the

middle class in this country a bright and prosperous future and assure our kids the kind of hope and optimism they deserve. bill: all that on the economy. fox news contributor ed rollins worked on every campaign since lincoln. good morning to you. take romney in that performance? how did he do? >> he did superbly. unlike the president could have put every last across his foreahead because he was punching bag. president's premise, things were bad when i got in. give me more time and it will get better. romney said the his policies failed. people are in worst shape on every element and it will not get better and he has solutions to move it forward. i thought that was one of the great strong points. bill: how president vision, reelect me, give me four years, this is what i will do. how did president obama do on that froonlt and overall last night. >> it was much better

performance than the first one but at end. day there wasn't anything new. didn't give me or anyone else that knows anything about government hope things will be better. my sense it was a great debate for entertainment purposes. they stood toe-to-toe, they had lots of facts, lots of figures. the economy is and the issue and i thought romney did an effective job. bill: good or bad, arguably the most dynamic debate americans watched at this level? >> i think absolutely one of the best debates. ali frazier fight. there is third one coming but it was really, first rate. if you were a obama tan you basically breathed a sigh of relief and a little cheer at the end. being a romney fan i thought he did a superb job, two back-to-back. this sort of freezes the action where it is today. which is romney gaining immeasureably on the president. we'll have a very close election. bill: taking boxing metaphor further. you are a boxer. once a boxer always a boxer. your card reeds this was a

draw? is that what i hear you say. >> i would give a slight edge to romney because at the end of the day he made the case people care about, which is the economy. president came back from where he was two weeks ago. this was his best performance probably ever. romney always he gives steady performances. this was one more. bill: did the constant interruptions turn voters off. make them more interested or less? >> i think they did knit a courtesy way. i've seen more fireworks in other debates in the past. to a certain extent they both made their points. they were aggressive. they had a lot of facts they threw out there without too many substantial mistakes. i think candy got in the way a little bit sometimes, meaning the moderator. at the end of the day this was great entertainment but equally important it was educational. you saw two views of the country. one the president may not get better. one a future that obviously offers hope. bill: what about women? polls show women fleeing the president? >> i think this was again,

mr. romney made a case for women and how women have lost, suffered immeasureably by the bad economy. i think he is gaining greatly on that front. if he does, obviously with the strength he has among men will win this race. bill: you say if you're a romney fan you're still a romney fan? >> absolutely. bill: if you're still a obama fan you're still a obama fan. what about the middle. >> they're going to be undecided. they will be undecided up to election day. one or two votes or one or two decisions. i will vote or not go vote. that is undecided. they will not tip off debate. what happened the first debate, romney became an acceptable alternative. last night he reinforced that. the president fought back and obviously made his side more energized. we have energized electorate, very divided electorate, everybody voting will be important. >> if that is the case, i would imagine those voters wait for monday night. that is when the final bell will ring? >> everybody anticipate as great debate on monday night. foreign affairs is not as important as the economy but

still it is very, very important. about leadership. bill: more contentious after the libya debate last night. that thing will be dissected in the media for the next five days until they go back at it. >> it will and deserves to be. at end of the day, whatever the president threw in line of terror in his speech candy decided she would jump in the mix answer the question and instead of being objective, they basically ducked and dodged tried to blame it on the film for two weeks. they didn't come out say this was al qaeda attack. they didn't come out and demand the host nation bring these people to justice. they kept the fbi investigating for 18 days. i think it was a bad day for america. bill: ed rollins, thank you for your time. appreciate your evaluation. >> thank you. bill: martha? martha: you guys were just talking about. did you see the smackdown in long island which is known as the second presidential debate last night? we have some of the most talked about moments from the evening, the question, the answers, the feisty exchanges all that next. >> let me mention something

else the president said a moment ago. i didn't get a chance when he was describing chinese investments and so forth. >> candy, hold on a second. >> mr. president i'm still speaking. >> mr. president let me finish. >> governor romney? overmany discounts to thine customers! [old english accent] safe driver, multi-car, paid in full -- a most fulsome bounty indeed, lord jamie.

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martha: round two now done in the books. there's one last presidential debate before election day. that's monday night. we played you the heated libya exchanges the gas prices back and forth and the economy. here's a little bit of the best of the rest of the evening. take a look. >> in the last four years you cut permits and licenses on federal land in federal waters in half. >> not true, governor romney. >> so how much did you cut them by. >> not true. >> how much did you cut them by. >> governor, we produced

oil. >> no, no, how much did you cut licenses on federal land and waters. >> here is what we did. when members of the republican congress say we will sign a no tax pledge so we don't ask a dime from millionaires and billionaires to reduce the deficit to still invest in education helping kids go to college, he said me too. >> the middle class has been crushed over the last four years and jobs have been too scarce. i know what it takes to bring them back. make sure when you graduate, when do you graduate? 2014. when you come out in 2014 i presume i'm going to be president i will make sure you get a job. >> i want to give middle class families and folks who are striving to get into the middle class some relief because they have been hit hard, over the last decade. over the last 15, over last 20 years. so four years ago i stood on the stage just like this one. actually it was town hall. i said i would cut taxes for middle class families. that's what i've done.

>> the middle class is getting crushed under policies of a president who has nod understood what it takes to get the economy working again. >> governor romney says he has a five-point plan? governor romney doesn't have a five-point plan. he has a one-point plan. that plan is to make sure folks at the top play by a different set of rules. that has been his philosophy in the private sector. that has been his philosophy as governor. that is his philosophy as presidential candidate. >> i know what a working economy looks like. an economy with 7.8% unemployment is not a real strong economy. and an economy that has 23 million people looking for work is not a strong economy. martha: wow! i mean i was just on the edge of my seat during this whole thing. when you think about it, bill. these are both men who have been accused by the media, and by some people in the public of being a little thin-skinned at times. bill: you000? martha: we've seen examples. having them in there toe-to-toe. you could tell there were times when they got under

each other's kids and in each other's faces in a way you don't see very often t was a personality clash out there. bill: first 15 minutes was absolute must-see tv. epic battle of men at highest point of political careers. i think both missed opportunities. martha: yes. bill: toward the end whole question immigration. president went first. governor romney any said youed senate, white house you could have done it then because you had the votes. louisiana governor bobby jindal talking about romney and him taking on the president's record for this. >> you could combine the speaking skills of ronald reagan, of abraham lincoln, winston churchill still not enough to defend this president's record. governor romney did a great job. the problem president has, made specific economy. fix economy in three years. didn't happen. cut the deficit in half. didn't help. would cut health care premiums $2500. didn't happen. gas prices doubled. fact affect. bill: the governor said, governor jindal said he

accused, being on red bull last night. governor jindal hit the president on explanationlibya. expect more on that. martha: yep. we're getting reaction from the romney campaign this way. top senior adivsor ed gillespie thought his boss did a good job pointing out the administration's failures. >> it bass fast-paced critique how the president's policies are crushing us. he said the middle class in this country, falling wages. hard to find work. rising gas prices. rising food prices and middle class families caught in the crunch as a result of the president's policies. more important, sean, governor romney laid out his plan changing that and positive vision for moving this country forward. 12 million new jobs, to get us to a balanced budget to unleash energy in this country. to expand trade. martha: gillespie added the contrast between the two candidates he believes is clear. he says romney is the one with the plan to turn the

economy around. no surprise from ed gillespie. he is a sure row got for governor romney. we'll hear what robert gibbs had to say for the president. he was on "fox and friends". bill: it might have been the most riveting moment of the night. the president first called it a terror attack in libya. is it as simple as looking at transcript in the rose garden on september 12th? is that is what he says. we'll look at the transcript. martha: how about candy crowley in the debate did she assist the president too much as some are saying this morning? we'll take that on. you can tell me what you thought of her performance as a mod right tore. send me a tweet @marthamaccallum. we have tucker carlson, alan colmes coming up on that. you can't argue with nutrition you can see. great grains. great grains cereal starts whole and stays whole. see the seam? more pcessed flakes look nothing like natural grains. i'm eating what i kn is better nutrition. mmmm. great grains. search great grains and see for yourself.

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martha: new questions this morning about whether president obama had some help from the moderator, candy crowley, during key moments of last night's debate. a lot of talk about this morning. own several occasions governor romney tried to interject to defend himself. here is one example of that playing out last night. >> mr. president, let me get the governor in on this. governor, before we get into a vast array who, what study says what, if it shouldn't add up, if somehow when you get in there isn't enough tax revenue coming in, if somehow the numbers don't add up, would you be willing to look again at a 20% --

>> of course they add up. i think i was supposed to get that last answer but i want to point out that i don't believe -- >> i don't think so, candy. i want to make sure the time keepers are working. >> the time keepers are all working. >> took the president 14 days before he called the attack in benghazi an act of terror. >> get the transcript. >> he did in fact, sir. let me call it an act of terror. >> say that a little louder, candy? >> he did call it an act of terror. [applause] martha: oh my. and sort of doubled back on that and broadened that out a little bit in retrospect. here is tucker carlson, editor of "the daily caller". fox news contributor. alan colmes is host of alan colmes radio show and author of the book, thank the liberals for saving america. have at it. tucker, how do you think candy did last night? >> pretty shocking. i say someone who likes candy crowley personally. she through the president a lifeline, there is no question. she inserted herself again and again in the debate.

this is not a joke. not a time to play cable pundit during the middle of the debate. at most decisive moment in the debate threw out something fundamentally dishonest. the obama administration for two full weeks made the case aggressively in public again and again and again this was not an organized terror act. this was response to the youtube video. there is no dispute about that she tried to make the opposite case on the stage last night and really hurt romney in the process. i think total outrage what she did last night. martha: alan. >> what did she say that wasn't true? she wasn't giving opinion. president did say in the rose garden the day after the attacks no act of terror will ever stop the united states. he used the word, this obsession republicans have with using the word terror if the administration afraid to use it for fear they will be blamed of having a terror on their watch is ridiculous. candy crowley did her job. her job of a journalist is to in fact get the truth out there. there is nothing she said that was not true.

martha: hold on a second, guys. let me put something out there. what she said, she was criticized before the debate even happened about something she said the way she would handle it. you know what? i make sure she answers the questions. if there is question out there needs redirection, i will say wait a minute a governor romney or president obama, you didn't answer that. seemed to me there were self opportunities, starting with the very first question, from jeremy, who wanted his job, and, governor romney started talking, didn't really get around, some might say to, answer his question. the same thing happened with president obama. when question of libya came up he was asked, you know, why didn't your administration jump in because there were prior attacks to the benghazi attack and people requested more security and you didn't do anything about it? he never addressed the question. why didn't candy crowley jump in and say, wait a minute, mr. president, that is not, you didn't answer the question, alan? wasn't that supposed to be her role? >> as a matter of fact i think he did answer the

question. martha: no, he didn't. not about the prior attacks and why he didn't -- >> you and candy agree then, clearly. that is great. that is not the role of the moderator. >> hold each person participating to answer the question. romney it seemed, was bullying candy croley, complaining as he always does he didn't get his time was wrong or something. he does that in every single debate. he comes off like a little bit like a bully during those moments. martha: no. seems to me if you're going to jump in for the president you have to do the same thing for mitt romney. once you establish that role you will have to do it all over the place. >> where was the question about obamacare which was single most significant thing the president done. >> this is town hall. >> the idea that the moderate needs to keep these guys honest. this is the president of the united states and the challenger. they're fully capable of holding one another accountable. the point is not to enhance the career of some cnn pundit. the point to let the rest of see what these guys think.

she got in the way of that. that is major sin. >> this sounds like morning after spin -- >> this is not spin. spare me. i'm not representing romney campaign. >> if romney done better you wouldn't feel you have to climb uphill as fast as your climbing. >> that is totally false. >> at expanse of candy crowley. >> give me a break i never acted on behalf of the romney campaign. far from it. what i saw a journalist insert herself into a process she wasn't needed doing so in fundamentally dishonest way leaving impression with the audience that the president said something he didn't say. i followed this. >> to say you never acted ever on romney campaign when you put out the video that went nowhere couple weeks ago. >> i heard your feelings alan. i've been attacking obama. >> i'm sorry out of bound to play the president's speak. >> 5-year-old video. martha: hold on, hold on. go back to, my question. which was, why was it, when, in my mind the moderate needs to make sure in the town hall environment that the questions that the

people are asking, they went through the whole exercise for a reason, right? they submitted questions. her people approved the questions. you can talk about whether or not they were good questions or whether they should have have different ones in there which i think is valid point. don't you want to make sure the people's questions are answered, alan. and why didn't she do that? >> i think she did that. as ed rollins pointed out in the previous segment this was ali-frazier type debate. very good one. probably one of the best ones we've ever seen. both sides got their points out and i reject the notion somehow candy crowley didn't do her job. >> just eliminate moderators overall. everyone of them wants to insert him herself into this. they can't help it. they're tv people. truth would be far more instructors for voters watch the two candidates talk among themselves, make their own rules. duke it out alone. martha: somebody might have got hit if we did that. >> it would be so revealing having watch an employee talk about herself. >> we saw quite a bit who is the better commander-in-chief.

who is more likely to be on top of the issues. who is telling the truth. i think romney people are trying to attack the moderator because --. martha: do not attack the moderator when it is me. thank you very much, alan colmes. tucker carlson. >> thanks, martha. martha: all right, so, boy the final debate, everybody is going to want to see this. in boca raton, monday night. it's a foreign policy format. it will be very similar to the first debate. the only difference both candidates will be seated at table. you've seen that one before. you have two of them around the table. moderator will open each segment with a question. after which the each of the candidates will have two minutes to respond. moderator will use balance of the time to discuss the topic. fox news is your election headquarters, folks. we've proved it throughout this entire process. we'll be there at 8:55 monday night. bill: bob schieffer is the moderator. 10 minutes into trading. investors reacting to some pretty decent earnings from a lot of american companies

frankly. do you closed up on tuesday. now today. what exactly did the president say in the rose garden the day after the attacks in libya. we have the transcript. former governor george pataki reacts about that, next. >> you said in the rose garden the day after the attack it was an act of terror. it was not a spontaneous demonstration. is that what you're saying. >> please proceed, governor. >> want to make sure we get that for the record. to meet the needs of my growing business. but how am i going to fund it? and i have to find a way to manage my cash flow better. [ female announcer ] our wells fargo bankers are here to listen, offer guidance and provide you with options tailored to your business. we've loaned more money to small businesses than any other bank for ten years running. so come talk to us to see how we can help. wells fargo. together we'll go far.

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bill: you will be hearing an awful lot about libya over the next five days and the exchange that happened right here. >> the day after the attack, governor, i stood in the rose garden, and i told the american people and the world that we are going to find out exactly what happened. that this was an act of terror. and i also said that we're going to hunt down those who committed this crime. >> governor if you want to

reply. >> i certainly do. i think it is interesting the president just said something which is that on the day of at tack he went in the rose garden and said that this was an act of terror. you said in the rose garden the day after the attack it was an act of terror. it was not a spontaneous demonstration, is that what you're saying? >> please proceed, governor. >> all right. want to make sure we get that for the record because it took the president 14 days before he called the attack in benghazi an act of terror. >> get the transcript. >> he did in fact, sir. let me call it an act of terror. >> can you say that a little louder, candy. >> he did call it an act of terror. it did as well take two weeks or so for the whole idea of there being a riot out there about this tape to come out. you're correct about that. bill: so we're going to sort through this. how are voters going to react? governor george pataki, former governor of new york.

what did you think of that exchange? >> bill, i have to tell you i was very disappointed with candy croley. not only inject herself in the hottest part of the presidential debates, hottest debate we've had for decades. she was flat-out wrong. the president did not in fact say the in benghazi was an act of terror. mitt romney is right. it did take them two weeks to do that. as the american people will look at this, they will understand the president looked into the camera said something that was just not the case, and what governor romney said was absolutely the truth. bill: hear is the transcript. he did say on page two, quoting now, no acts of terror will ever shake the resolve of this great nation. he also said this, though, referred to the attack in benghazi, talked, referred to their attackers, referred to this terrible act, same speech, same five-minute statement. called it outrage just and shocking attack. talked about bringing killers, not the terrorists,

but killers to justice who attack our people. we reject all efforts to denigrate the religious beliefs of others. some take to the mohammed film. called it brutal acts. called it senseless violence. the attack will not break the bonds between u.s. and libya. fought back against the attackers. you could make a clear argument here, governor, i think that's what you're doing, how far the president went that day. >> absolutely. he did not say that the attack in benghazi was an act of terror. in fact, five days later his u.n. secretary, ambassador, was out on every major news channel on the sunday talk shows, saying it was a consequence of this video that no one ever saw. by the way, bill, step back for a minute here. when did those attacks owe your? -- occur. on september 11th. 90% of the americans when they understood that our facility had been attacked and your ambassador killed on september 11th, woo not think it is some spontaneous uprising but it's a terrorist attack.

but since day one this administration has always looked to find what is it we have done wrong to provoke this action by others from the beginning of his global apology tour, statement after the embassy in egypt was attacked and trashed. where they basically apologized because of the video. this administration's instinct is always, what have we done wrong? bill: i think there was something uncovered last night a lot of folks have missed. 10:09 p.m. eastern time. we did our research. we have not found this publicly stated until last night. the president, as soon as we found out the benghazi consulate was overrun i was on the phone with my national security team. what did the national security team tell him that moment, on that day, about what intelligence they had about who was killing our ambassador? >> well of course, we don't know what that conversation was, but what we do know is that from early on our

security officials believed it was a terrorist attack. and by the way, the libyan government, the next day came out and side it was a terrorist attack. it didn't take them two weeks. bill: i understand that. but when you say you're on the phone with your national security team, what are you hearing? >> yeah. presumably you're hearing the truth on the ground which is it was a terrorist attack. there was no mass demonstration. it was a well-organized attack on september 11th. by the way, bill, just one other thought. the question that the president was asked, why didn't you provide security before the attack? then he immediately he said what he did after the attack. bill: frankly to be fair, governor romney could have followed up on that, you didn't answer the question. this is a six-day story that will take us into monday. during monday night we'll have questions the following tuesday of next week. we will pick it up then with you, governor, thank you. >> thank you, bill. bill: george pataki in new york. martha, what is next. martha: governor romney's running mate is hitting the

trail on last night's debate. why paul ryan thinks it is a win, no big surprise there, but well-tell you when we come back. >> the commitment governor romney and i will make to you is this. we will not duck the tough issues. we will lead. [cheers and applause] hmm, it says here that cheerios helps lower cholesterol as part of a heart healthy diet. that's true. ...but you still have to go to the gym. ♪ the one and only, cheerios

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bill: one of the questions balancing the budget last night came up, became a big part of last night's debate, leading to this moment here. >> i was someone who ran businesses for 25 years and balanced a budget. he ran the olympics and balanced the budget. i ran the state of massachusetts as a governor, to the extent any governor does, and balanced the budget all four years. if the president were reelected we would go to almost $20 trillion of national debt.

this puts us on a road to greece. i know what it takes to balance budgets. i've done it my entire life. bill: that response was in reaction for the romney campaign after president obama accused the governor not being able to pay for his proposed tax cut if elected. martha: there are new developments in the growing fungal meningitis outbreak that has spread to at least 15 states. federal agents raided the massachusetts pharmacy yesterday where steroid medications have been linked to the spread of this deadly disease. jonathan serrie is in atlanta. jonathan, when were they looking for during the search last night? >> reporter: good morning, martha. criminal investigators with both the justice department and the food and drug administration were involved. though neither would comment what they were longing for, governor ed markey was asking would the new england compounding center skirted federal law. last night's pharmacy, a

representative said it was unnecessary. we made clear warrants weren't needed. asking would have produced the same result. nevertheless we continue to offer our cooperation. in addition to the criminal investigation, necc faces a growing number of lawsuits from patients who claim they became ill after receiving the tainted injections. martha? martha: awful story. what about the investigation into the source of this contamination? >> reporter: yeah. as we speak, public health officials continue to look at the source of contamination, injected steroids, believed to have made 233 people ill in 15 states. most of those infections involve fungal meningitis which is blamed for at least 16 deaths according to reporting from state health departments. martha? martha: john, thanks very much. bill: one of the president's top advisors governor romney looked like he was debating candy crowley, the moderator more than the president. was he right? did governor romney have two

opponents on the stage? john sununu answers that. martha: the governor's personal finances come front and center, as the governor comes out swinging. that exchange straight ahead. >> have you looked at your pension, mr. president, have you looked at your pension?

martha: the candidates came out swinging last night in round two, they traited jabs. one of the most heated exchanges happened when they discussed the tereist attack i terrorist attack in libya. i'm martha maccallum good morning. bill: i'm bill hemmer good morning. president obama, governor romney clashing over the characte characterization of the terror attacks in benghazi on september 11th leaving four americans dead. governor romney questioned the

president's claim on whether his administration started calling the attack an act of terror setting up one of the more memorable moments of this debate, number two. >> you said in the rose garden the day after the attack it was an act of terror, it was not a spontaneous demonstration, is that what you're saying? >> please proceed, governor. >> i want to make sure we get that for the record because it took the president 14 days before he called the attack in benghazi an act of tere roar. >> get the transcript. >> he did in act, sir. >> can you say that a little louder, candy? >> he did call it an act of terror. it did as well take two weeks or so for the whole idea, there being a riot out there about this tape to come out, you're correct about that. >> the administration -- [applause] >> the administration indicated that this was a reaction tow a video and a spontaneous reaction. it took them a longtime to say this was a terrorist act by a

terrorist group. am i incorrect in that regard? bill: chief washington correspondent james rosen is on this this morning. i wonder how influential in shaping the outcome of the debate, in deciding the winner if you will, in that particular answer was the moderator, candy crowley? >> i here by declare a the big winner of lots night's debate was testosterone. the new nominees even appeared at one point to advance on each other in a menacing way. crowley posed the same number of questions and the crowd applauded when she sided with the president and against mr. romney. >> the day after the attack, governor, i stood in the rose garden and i told the american people and the world that we were going to find out exactly

what happened, that this was an act of terror. >> reporter: in fact here is what president obama said in the rose garden on september 12th. >> no acts of terror will ever shake the resolve of this great nation, alter that character or eclipse the light of the values that we stand for. today we mourn four more americans who represent the very best of the united stites of america. >> reporter: so to be clear the president that day did not tell the american people benghazi had been an act of terror as he claimed in the debate, he indirectly implied as much. crowley told her own network she was trying to move things along and romney in the main was correct. >> i knew the president has said these acts of terror won't stand or whatever the whole quote was. i think actually -- because right after that i did push around and say but you were

totally correct that you spent two weeks telling us about a tape and there was a riot outside the benghazi consulate but there wasn't. he was right in the main, i just think he picked the long word. >> reporter: crowley presided over a debate in which the president's speaking time exceeded governor romney's almost three and a half minutes. bill: i guess that's make up time for monday night. martha: paul ryan gave his assessment of last night's debate. here he is earlier on cbs. >> the vice president and the president had not offered a single new competent how to turn this economy around and create jobs. not a single idea how the next four years would be any different than the last four years. what we are offering is to grow the economy, create jobs and get us going in a better direction. martha: today ryan is campaigning in ohio where the campaign has spent a couple of times at a rally with

condoleezzaa rice. bill: joe biden always speaking today saying he ha his boss had a great debate. >> the guy who wants to do something about the middle class, he was there last night. i thought he did an incredible job pointing out what we did, what we are going to do and i think it's governor romney that had not an answer to anything. whether it was thet asked him about jobs. he said i want you to get a job. this is the third debate, they have not come up with a solitary specific. martha: some analysts this morning and last night saying that one of governor romney's strongest moments came with his rebuttal, watch this. >> mr. president i voted for you in 2008, what have you done or accomplished to earn my vote in

2012. i'm not that optimistic in 2012. most things i need for every day living is very expensive. >> we've gone through four tough years. four years ago i told the american people and told you i would cut taxes for middle class families and i did. i told you i'd cut taxes for small businesses and i have. i told you that i'd end the war in iraq and i did. >> i think you know better. i think you know that these last four years haven't been so good that the president just described and you don't feel that you're confident that the next four years will be that good either. if you elect president obama you know what you'll get a repeat of the last four years. we can't afford four more years like the last four years. martha: that was an interesting exchange. byron york joins us now chief correspondent for the "washington examiner kw-bg" and

a fox news contributor. >> that was pointed to as a particularly good moment for governor romney. >> i thought it was his strongest moment in the whole debate. mitt romney has been talking about this for two years. he can say it in his sleep, backwards. his answer to the man who had voted for obama but was having doubts now, was concise, focused e it was almost perfect. contrast that to the libya answer that you were discussing earlier in which he clearly seemed uncomfortable talking about it. when mitt romney is talking about the economy, job creation, regulation, obamacare he's right there in his own comfort zone. martha: the tone of last night is something we've been talking about a lot. i think everybody expected that the town hall forum would be more folksy. there might be smiles, and they might connect with people in the awed weapons with these issues. not at all we got. and do you think the fact that

it was very confrontational helps or hurts these folks? >> i think it probably helps the viewers. they got a better airing of the candidates' beliefs. there were these two different strains of thoughts before this debates. the first one was president obama has come to come out and be more aggressive because he was asleep in denver. the other was well you're going to be in front of these people, they are real voters having you questions and you don't want to just engage in, you know, rock-em-sock em or you'll turn the people off. there were a couple of times where it looked like they were going to roll up their sleeves and say do you want to take this outside. clearly they decided better to go aggressive. martha: did anybody get hurt in the likability category. i heard people say romney wa

mitt romney knee did better with women in the last debate. >> all republicans are saying romney won, all democrats saying obama won. the affect that it has on those independent voters, the once still undecided takes a few days to happen. a debate takes a while to sink in. people watch it and read about it and talk to other people about it. sometimes a few days later they may have a different impression than they had when they were pwafpg th watch the debate. martha: thank you. bill: you give it about three days they say. friday or saturday this coming week -- martha: marijuan martha: marinate a little bit. bill: voters gathered in the state of virginia to judge for themselves. what did they say? [inaudible]

>> i think the debate went a l o dates eastt he's n doing should >> they've been working on the spin machine and the campaign slogans. [inaudible] >> they were being a little bit more vicious. bill: and a lively bar too. the two candidates go head to head one final timeonday night, third and final debate. boca raton, florida. the topic is foreign policy, 9 e number one. the moderator will ask a question with each candidate having two minutes to respond. bob shaffer is the moderator from cbs. both candidates, if it mountainses are seated. martha: it changes the energy just a little bit. it's a different dynamic than

standing behind a podium or walking around a town hall. bill: isn't it great to hear how many people are involved in this process. martha: absolutely. the intensity is there. one of the things i mentioned last night, folks, this was a boring election about a month ago. people kept complaining the two candidates were not exciting enough, not interest -l interesting enough. they are not saying that now. there you new questions whether candy crowley was the third debater on the stage last night. senior adviser to the mitt romney campaign, former governor john senunu will join us with his thoughts on that. bill: it was tense at times. will the aggressive posturing be a turn off for the precious undecided voter we wonder. >> governor, we actually produced more order. >> how many licenses did you cut on federal lands and federal water. >> governor romney this is what we did. >> i had a question, how much

did you cut them by? >> do you want me to answer or -- >> how much did you cut them by? clock ticking ] [ male announcer ] there's a better way... v8 v-fusion. vegetable nutrition they need, fruit taste they love. could've had a v8. or...try kids boxes!

bill: i want to get to this fox news alert right now. ave new images out of syria where rebel fighters claim they have downed a government airplane there. the video shaky. you can see the pilot as parachute in the right corner of your screen and the camera follows that plane as it falls to the sky. a massive fireball when it hits the ground there. reports suggest 30,000 have been killed since the war started two years ago in syria. martha: back to the action last night. we are getting new reaction this morning from the obama campaign on what they are calling a strong performance from the president last night, and it appears that even senior campaign adviser robert gibbs thought there were times when governor romney had to sort of battle it out with not t president but with candy crowley. >> i thought many times during the evening, i thought mitt

romney appeared to -- mitt romney appeared to be debating not rea really debate -lg president obama. martha: john senunu joins us. what do you make ofgibbs says sd like the governor was going at it with candy. >> look, robert was a little bit extactic that more than an empty suit showed up for his side this time. my good friend candy crowley stuck her nose in a couple of cut mitt romney off twice when he deserved a round of answering and shortchanged him a few minutes and tried to cover up for barack obama's very dishonest statement on when he decided that terrorism was the problem involved in that libyan tragedy. so candy stuck her nose into it

in the wrong place and she admitted afterwards that her on the fly fact checking was wrong, that mitt romney was mainly right. so, the governor did have to handle but he did handle them both well and i think he put the facts on the table, that the economy is the big issue, and in terms of foreign policy, it's not just national security and foreign policy associated with libya but it now has become a character issue in terms of the white house ao*p's handling it. martha: do you think these two gentlemen at base of it don't like each other very much? it was pretty feisty out there. >> it's more than that. not only governor romney but a lot of the american population is really upset as what they see as a strategy of dishonesty on issues coming out of the obama side. the president was caught twice last night on energy giving

absolutely ridiculously stalls statements on oil and gas production. he said he increased permits on oil and goods on federal land when in fact they were decreased 14% on oil, 11% on gas and over his for years they've done down almost 40 and 50% on each one of them. it was reprehensible that he's trying to convey a very different energy policy than he's had. he's killed the coal industry and tried to sound like a friend of coal last night. martha: charles krauthammer was doing an analysis last night and he thought governor romney was strong in the big picture but he faulted him the few times when he got down to semantics and words and challenging the president directly on that stage. do you think that was a good move? >> look, governor romney's personality is not such that he likes to take people on on

issues like when they are being dishonest, and i noticed that each time when he had to deal with that detail he doesn't like being as confrontational as some other folks, so the president had a little advantage with his impersonation of joe biden last night, but i thought the president's rudeness is going to turn off a lot of independent voters. martha: really. >> i do. i think when you look at the polling -- luntz at a focus group out there and a lot of folks, not only independent people went to romney but old obama folks switched to romney. the president's style might have energized the base, but i think it alienated the independents. martha: where does this whole conversation go from here? there is an investigation going on as we all know. i don't think anybody expects we'll hear anything out of that

investigation before this election. do you? >> no, i think what you're going to hear, though, is a lot of folks that the president has tried to throw under the bus, the intelligence community, even poor secretary of state clinton was a good soldier and instead of just waiting to be thrown under the bus kind of crawled under the bus taking the rap for the president. i think you're going to see some grumbling coming out of those groups between now and the end of the election so that people will understand really how terrible this administration has handled this very critical issue. the president's foreign policy has fallen apart. he was going to brag that he had broken the back of terrorism and what happened in libya really puts the lie to that. his foreign policy has been revealed in the context of the emperor has no clothes, i think the debate darn dash. martha: i have one more question. do you think that governor romney answered that question well enough? he got criticized afterwards for not being comprehensive in

answering that. do you think he will have a pwroerd answer ththe broader answer next time answer is in t. maybe he should shut it in a different way. the ambassador hits five shows and says it's the video. the president goes out and says six times it's the video. now he's trying to suggest to us the day after he had made it clear it was a terrorism act. that is just dishonest. he got caught making a dishonest statement and that is going to hurt him in the long run. martha: we have to leave it there. governor senunu thank you very much much. bill: do you know what is in your portfolio. both men have money but do they know where it is invested and does it matter? that fiery exchange and the facts on china playing by the rules in a moment. martha: the dual over each candidates packed plans. >> the middle income families in

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last night. one of them was over the issue of taxes. governor romney laid out his vision for reform but it wasn't specific enough for the president. watch. >> i want to help people in the middle class, and i will not, i will not under any circumstances reduce the share that's being paid by the highest income tax payers and i will not under any circumstances increase taxes on the middle class. >> if somebody came to you, governor, with a plan that said, here, i want to spend 7 or $8 trillion and we're going to pay for it, but we can't tell you until maybe after the

election how we're going to do it, you wouldn't have taken such a sketchy deal, and neither should you, the american people. martha: governor romney also described how he would pay for his tax proposal, by closing loopholes, limiting deductions and broadening the tax base to raise more revenue, which he says would improve the economy and that would bring in more revenue as well. bill: also this fire -- governor romney was firing back after president obama attacked investments in chinese companies made by the blind trust that handles governor romney's money. >> have you looked at your pension? have you looked at your pension? >> i don't look at my pension. it's not as big as yours so it doesn't take as long. >> let me give you some advice. >> i don't check it that often. >> let me give you your advice, you also have investments in chinese companies and outside the united states. you also have investments through a cayman's trust. bill: liz claman is the anchor of countdown closing bell. how are you doing there liz?

>> i am well. bill: where did this debate go? what do you think it provided viewers last night. that everybody does it, nobody knows where their money is and two rich guys fighting. >> it was the big swinging blind trust discussion of that night. i think they were on the verge of talking about immigration and governor romney brought it back into vesting in china which is a very important subject for americans for a whole host of reasons we'll get into. when he said you have investments in china some of the stocks that the president has in his blind trust, if you're either running for office, or you are part of an office you have to have a blind trust with your money it means that somebody else is investing your money and you can't call up and say put money in goldman sachs or dunkin' donuts. so they have these blind trusts. president obama apparently has names like apple and walmart in his pension and some of his mutual funds and there is a

feeling that not have many americans would look at that and say that is a chinese company. conversely the president has pointed out that romney has money in u.n. iview tech. this is a company in china that is right there in china and they make surveillance equipment for the chinese government. bill: i wonder in the end if that's a push on that. one thing governor romney has been doing especially in ohio, and you were in cleveland last week. he's been hitting china by not playing by the rules. >> that's about the currency. bill: when he goes on the trail, were people talking about that when you were in ohio. >> not at all. when people hear in china and currency manipulation their eyes start to glaze over. i think people should be interested in the fact that china does not allow the currency like the rest of the western countries do to float it freely, sometimes it goes up,

sometimes it goes down. china keeps their currency artificially low which makes their products cheaper hence americans are forced to buy chinese products. they manipulate their currency. going back to 1994 which was the last time anybody here in the u.s. administrations labeled china a current see manipulator, there was a lot of tension. so george bush didn't label it a currency manipulator, nor has president obama p. bill: they own a lot of your stuff. liz clay money, anchor of after the bell. martha: the candidates battled last night and sort of stalked each other across the stage at times. did the harsh tone backfire with

those undecided voters. bill: you heard what hillary clinton said this week about responsibility for what happened in benghazi. last night the president gave a nod to taking the responsibility as well. how much blame should go around on this? back in a moment. >> the united states will always maintain our military superiority. we have the best trained, best led, bed equipped militar best equipped, military in human history. >> we owe our military more than an account of o of our successes.

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bill: now to the tone of last night's debate, much different from the first time around, right? both candidates landing blows like these. >> in the last four years you cut permits and licenses on federal land and federal waters in half. >> not true, governor romney. >> by how much did you cut them by. >> not true. >> how much did you caught them by. >> we actually produced more oil. >> how much did you cut licenses and permits on federal land and federal waters. >> governor romney this is what we did. there were a whole bunch of oil companies. >> i had a question, and how much did you cut them by. how much did you cut them by. >> i'm happy to answer.

>> okay. >> lanny davis is here former special counsel to president clinton is with us. last night made the moment with al gore and george bush look like they were in the sandbox. sabrina these guys came to play last night, but the question is whether or not it was effective for folks in the middle trying to make up their mind. what do you think? >> it was definitely a battle over enthusiasm, or i should say energy but it should have been a battle over enthusiasm because that's what it's really coming down to in the final weeks is not whether these undecideds in the middle liked that hostility o but whether it's going to change their vote preference for one of the candidates. bill: what do you think? did it based on what you saw? >> i think so. i think romney -- this is such an interesting and shockingly large change from 2008 when obama was ahead in terms of very enthusiastic voters by 35

points. now romney is leading with very enthusiastic voters. he's could be just le obviously doing something right. he's connect w-g voters. i think he's seeing a clear path to the white house in a moment. bill: this is screaming for a body language expert. >> i heard my distinguished colleagues doing walking points, there is no way that that kind of food-fight hostility and anger is going to win an independent, undecided voter. the data says exactly the opposite. they are turned off by that kind of conduct, and don't tell me it arouses enthusiasm other than among people in their respective bases. >> that is important foe lanny, right? >> that isn't the question we were asked. does it affect the undecided, the independent voter and data shows they are turned off by that type of behavior. they want positive, solution-based answers. not fisticuffs.

bill: a lot of people were hitting on your guy for not providing a vision if he were to win a second term. >> my guy meaning barack obama? i don't think barack obama did a very good job staying above the fray. at the end he called mitt romney a nice man, a gentleman. i think you can strongly disagree on issues without engaging in possible till -- both romney and he were in a food fight. bill: do you think he made a mistake. >> both of them sought the lowest common denominator acting with that anger and hostility. he certainly revved you have the base, bill and did a good job compared to the last time, but not the middle. bill: sabrina i'll let you answer after we watch this exchange here. >> okay. >> i don't think anyone really believes that you're a person who is going to be pushing for oil and gas and coal. you'll get your chance in a moment i'm still speaking. the answer is i don't believe

people think that is the case -- that wasn't a question that was a statement. bill: lanny's point is that yes you fire up the base if you're press, that's what you did last night but the middle is turned off by this. how do you see that evaluation sth. >> i thin think it's important to know who we mean by the middle. very often there is a broad, independent base of a third of the election threat. theee rattle is 10% of the election threat are pure independents. the rest of the undecided voters vote with one party or the other but they don't technically identify with them. it's not insignificant that both candidates were trying to rev up that base. this is the time to be aggressive. we have an election in less than a month. >> i couldn't disagree more, if the base is going to vote the 10% will decide the election, you want to ignore and turn off the 10% to rev up the base? maybe you increase turn out by doing that and that is a legitimate tactic. i would disagree, this election is in a dead heat, it's going to

be decided which way that 10% swings and you don't swing them by negative, personal attacks and the behavior i saw from both candidates. bill: i'm saying -- i'm hearing that president obama did not have a good night. >> well, i'm saying both men, both men did not have a good night, because instead of engaging in respectful debate romney was -- unlike the first debate where he did a great job in staying above and at a high level, romney crosses the stage, confronts in the face of president obama, the president of the united states. bad. barack obama himself got much too negative and personal. i think both of them ignored that -- i agree that slice of the election threat -- >> i disagree. i think romney was extremely strong last night. he hit a lot of important points on energy policies on workplace regulation, on healthcare. this was the time to confront the president and say that we have two dave convenient visions for the future of america, yours has failed and i have a different direction that i want

to take this country in. and i don't think undecided voters are so weak that they can't handle that. bill: hang on one second. i'll give you a final word. joe trippi called it a split decision last night on fox. charles krauthammer says this was frazier ali in a very tough fight. lanny, last word. >> the quick overnight polling data shows it was a draw with a slight edge to obama. the talking points of the republican partisan i understand you're supporting mitt romney, but if you don't understand that the middle of the road 10% is turned off by food fights you're not looking at it correctly. bill: satisfactory pwraoepb a i've got to run. mr. purple thanks to you as well. lanny davis. martha: the fallout from the libya attack is clearly not going away, and it is clearly a key issue for this campaign. >> whether there was some misleading or in stead whether we just didn't know what happened, i think you have to

ask yourself, why didn't we know five days later, when the ambassador to the united nations went on tv to say this was a demonstration, how could we have not known. martha: big questions. general jack keane is next. bill: also another border agent shot in the line of duty. the latest on her condition. what police are saying about the shooter of this woman. >> it dus disgusts me. if he was going to turn the gun on himself why shoot and hurt her? she is an innocent victim, i feel horrible for her. i earn 1% cash back everywhere, every time. [ both ] 2% back on groceries. [ all ] 3% on gas! no hoops to jump through. i earn more cash back on the things i buy most. [ woman in pet store ] it's as easy as... i earn more cash back on the things i buy most. [ all ] one! -two. -[ all ] three!

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martha: the investigation into what happened that night in benghazi, libya took center stage last night at the debate and both candidates agreed that president obama should be held responsible for those deadly attacks. watch some of this. >> and when it comes to this issue, when i say that we are

going to find out exactly what happened, everybody will be held accountable, and i am ultimately responsible for what is taking place there, because these are my folks, and i'm the one who has to greet those coffins when they come home, you know that i mean what i say. >> i think the president just said correctly that the buck does stop at his desk and he takes responsibility for that -- for the failure in providing those security resources, and those terrible things may well happen from time to time. martha: joined now by four car general jack keane, former vice chief -- chief of staff i should say of the army and a fox news military analyst. good morning. >> good morning, martha. martha: it struck me that one of the questions that was not answered last night came from the one gentleman in the audience who asked about libya, and his question was, why did you not increase security when these prior attacks happened in april and june at the consulate

and embassy. and that question never got answered. and i think it lies at the heart of understanding what is actually going on on the ground in benghazi and goes to the point about why the administration may not want to talk about that too much. >> that is absolutely true. we have a major scandal there in terms of the fact that we had a pattern of activity, two attacks on the consulate prior to the pre-planned coordinated attack. attack on a uk ambassador, attempting to kill him and the attack on the international red cross. the uk shut down their consulate, and the red cross shut down. we as poe posed to increasing our security given the pattern we just discussed actually reduced it by sending moment the special forces site security team. we have to get to the bottom of why that happened. what was our intelligence doing with that pattern of activity and who were they communicating to about what all this meant. that really is the issue here. martha: you have that testimony last week in which it was

suggested that although that extra security was asked for the department of state felt that it won't look good, that we're supposed to be presenting the front that things are getting better in libya, we helped to overthrow moammar qaddafi and al-qaida is on the run. so how do you put that in front of the safety of your people at the consulate and say, well we actually want libyan guards there now. we want to pull our guys out and make it look like things are going well. >> i hope when senator lieberman when he has his committee hearing will get to the bottom of it. that was security people talking to security people at the department of state. the ambassador and others were expressing concerns about what was happening in libya, that the radical islamists are trying to undermine this government, they are conducting violent attacks to separate western influences from that government. also i'm convinced, although i don't know for certain that he probably was also discussing the security concerns he had at the consulate, and also at the

embassy. martha: those who say that there is a growing al-qaida problem in this region, tick off all of the countries, libya, syria, all of the countries where they see a growing presence of al-qaida. others say, no it's not really al-qaida it's militia groups on the ground, they may be inspired by al-qaida. what do you say? >> for our viewing audience here the simple fact is this. there is a radical islamic movement in every country in the middle east. their chosen purpose is to overthrow the governments that exist and establish a kalafate and bring back 7th century government. they are all islamists no matter what group you call them. they have taken advantage of revolutionary change that is sweeping through the middle east. they are hijacking the movement as best they can for their own goals. the number one goal is to drive

the united states out of the region. that's what 9/11 was about. that is what burning flags on top of the walls of embassies is about and what is what attacking our embassy and consulate is all about. martha: it's time we are heard more about that, and we thank you for bringing it here today. general keane thank you so much. good to talk to you. >> take care, martha. bill: there will be headlines throughout the day, you can rest assured of that. and there will be a lot of reaction to last night as we move forward throughout the day. jon scott is coming up in a matter of 11 minutes. "happening now," what you cooking up, jon. jon: talking about the bill debate, bill. the big analysis is the number one topic of the day, who came out on top, who came away with the edge. fox news sunday's chris wallace will be stopping by to join us on "happening now." we heard from the president last night claiming that he knew our ambassador was murdered in a terror attack, why was the u.n. ambassador out telling a different story on tv just days later? a man with long experience at

u.n. and state department joins us with his thought. how were those undecided voters picked last night? what were some of the big questions you did not hear? we'll speak with the mother of four who was in that debate hall, hear her story and see whether she is still undecided. that is coming up 11 minutes from new on "happening now." bill: see you in a couple of minutes. minutes of americans glued to their tv's last night for that debate. some of those viewers fighting for our country in the desert of afghanistan. lieutenanlieutenant colonel alsrer nortoliver north live from afghanistan with their reactions last night. [ man ] ring ring... progresso this reduced sodium soup says it mahelp lower cholesterol, how does it work? you just he to eat it as part of your heart healthy diet. step 1. eat the soup. all those veggies and beans,

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>> i said i'd end the war in iraq and i did. i said we'd go after al-qaida and mary landrie and bin laden

and we did. >> we have iran four years closer to a nuclear bomb. syria, syria is not just the tragedy of 30,000 civilians being killed by the military but also a strategically significant player for america. the president's policies throughout the middle east began with an apology tour and pursue a strategy of lead be from behind and this strategy is unraveling before our very eyes. bill: what about that now? debate reaction from americans on the front lines of afghanistan. and what was said about the war on terror? fox news senior military analyst lieutenant colonel oliver north watched the debate with marines in southern afghanistan streaming from helmand province now, colonel. >> last year when we were in this part of helmand province there were four battalions providing security. today there is one with which he

served as a young operations officer. we've now been here since last month. many of the 65,000 u.s. troops still here and thousands of contractors with more on the way are doing what the u.s. military personnel used to do, and now thanks to the obama exit strategy being announced to everybody it's become even harder. here is the summary of the opinions from three debates. first, great disappointment at the lack of attention being paid to the commitment here in afghanistan. one comment, does anyone know we are fighting over here? of course because of only one mention last night of the place called afghanistan. number two, the white house is lying about benghazi because everybody knows that osama bin laden is dead but al-qaida is still alive. number three, if we pull the plug on these people here they are screwed. that is gross language perhaps but these are smart gals and

guys. they focus on substance not form. many of them have made multiple tours over here. despite what you hear back in the states about absentee ballots. only four have had any problem registering or getting a ballot to vote. it's hard for people to understand back in civilian life when the company sirs sergeant says give blood, or give to the marine relief society or toys or to the, or register to vote they will. bill: thank you. fascinating reaction in afghanistan. martha: some calling last night's presidential debate the most controversial face off in modern debate history. millions watched on tv. what was it like to be in the audience? one woman who was front and center in there will tell us. ♪

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bill: so. martha: here we go. bill: that was two hours of action.

now we get to go on the radio with kilmeade what we call our therapy session. get it all off our chest. tune in. martha: tune in. is getting started. have a great day everybody. we'll see you back here tomorrow. jenna: right now some brand new stories and breaking news this hour. jon: it was a debate like no other. president obama and governor romney going head-to-head in a fierce fight. so who won? we'll have complete analysis. also new developments in the meningitis outbreak as the death toll rises. plus, gunfire, shutting down the border between the united states and canada? it's all "happening now." jon: and good morning to you on this wednesday after the presidential debate. it turned red hot as the candidates duke it out in a contentious town h